RAF veteran Zbyšek Nečas-Pemberton dies at 97

WWII veteran Zbyšek Nečas, who flew with the No. 68 Night Fighter
Squadron in the RAF, has died at the age of 97. The airman, who served as a
radar operator on Bristol Beaufighters and Mosquitos, passed away at his
home last week, his family revealed Wednesday.

Zbyšek Nečas, photo: Czech Television
Colonel Zbyšek Nečas (also known as John Pemberton) served as a radar
operator aboard Beaufighter and Mosquito night fighters during the Second
World War and his bravery – honoured by Czech President Milos Zeman last
year – contributed to the squadron’s three probable and 21 verified
kills, according to the Czech Embassy in London. In addition, the No. 68
squadron damaged seven enemy planes and shot down three V-1 rockets by the
end of the war.

Zbyšek Nečas was just 18 and still a high school student, escaped from
the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia a month before WWII broke out and
made his way to England where he had a cousin and it was there that he
trained as a radar operator.

In an interview in 2006, the WWII hero said that together he and his pilot
had been present during three confirmed kills, one probable, and two
damaged. They took down the Nazis’ first four-engine reconnaissance plane
which he described as “a flying radar”. In the same interview, he had
praise for Baron Beaverbrook who under Churchill had served as the Minister
of Aircraft production from 1940 – 1945.

After the war, Nečas returned to his homeland to learn that none of his
immediate family had survived and it wasn’t long before he returned to
the RAF.

To protect him from the Communists who had seized power in Czechoslovakia,
under whom countless WWII heroes were persecuted and imprisoned, the
British authorities faked his death, giving him the name of deceased pilot
John Pemberton. The WWII veteran settled in Great Britain for good.
His funeral has been scheduled for April 17.